The present invention relates to systems for increasing the dehumidifying effect of air-conditioners, and especially two such systems which are capable of operating at extremely high efficiencies.
It is well known that high humidity, as well as high temperatures, create uncomfortable living conditions. Great progress has been made in air-conditioning technology to lower air temperature in a given environment. However, high humidity remains a problem to be overcome.
It is also well known that reducing the temperature of air also reduces the humidity in the air. Accordingly, in the attempt to draw out moisture-ladened air, air-conditioners have been run excessively, thus overcooling the environment, while reducing the humidity to a still insufficient level. The result is cool, but clammy air, achieved at a loss of efficiency because the air-conditioning unit is run excessively. The current practice called Reheat uses an auxillary source of energy to reheat the cold air, at great expenses of energy.
Systems have been suggested to increase the dehumidifying effect of an air-conditioner without Reheat. For example, a system developed at Trinity University in San Antonio, Tex. incorporates an air-to-air plate heat exchanger attached to the air-conditioner inlet and outlet. Cold air leaving the air-conditioner is used to pre-cool incoming air. The Georgia Institute of Technology has a similar system using a run-around loop where a fluid is pumped through two liquid-to-air coils to achieve a heat transfer effect as above.